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Photo by Sam Harrel

Explaining he had lived in the neighborhood of the J.P. Jones Community Development Center for 48 years, Don Thibedeau, right, introduces himself Tuesday night, Jan. 29, 2008, during Fairbanks Mayor Terry Strle’s first Talk Tuesday gathering. The last Tuesday of each month, the mayor and representatives from city departments will meet residents at different neighborhoods to exchange ideas about taxes, public services and other issues.

Fairbanks City Hall carried its eyes and ears into South Fairbanks on Tuesday, following up on Mayor Terry Strle’s campaign promise to communicate directly with neighborhoods.

Strle and representatives from city departments met residents at the J.P. Jones Community Development Center to exchange ideas about taxes, public services and almost anything else that came up.

People just talked — no meeting rules, no formal motions or votes. In that way, the first of Strle’s monthly “Talk Tuesdays” differed from the structured Fairbanks City Council meetings held 12 blocks north of the center at City Hall every few weeks.

“My idea for tonight was just to talk with folks in the neighborhood,” Strle said as the meeting opened.

The room included a mix of faces, some recognizable from other public events. Of the meeting’s first 21 attendees, 11 including Strle were city employees, and they explained the city’s most visible functions: plowing and maintaining roads, operating ambulance crews and offering police and fire protection.

The topics didn’t stay within the confines of official city functions though, and after 20 minutes the handful of residents were pitching their thoughts, citing the need for a comprehensive community calendar or bulletin, and expressing concern at the lack of activities for young people.

But the atmosphere was positive.

“It means a lot to those of us who live here that you’re doing this,” South Fairbanks resident Don Thibedeau told Strle.

Councilwoman Vivian Stiver, who attended as a resident, relayed an acquaintance’s concern for those in attendance that troublemakers were finding a refuge for partying in vacant lots concealed by tall vegetation.

And North Pole resident Jules Toraya, a South Carolina native, said he had been shocked upon moving to Fairbanks at the limited recycling options.

“Certainly we should recycle all materials,” said Toraya, who urged representatives from the city to play a role in any expanded aluminum recycling efforts as a starting point.

Talk of recycling and conservation caught on and area resident Suzanne Fenner noted a community task force has scheduled a recycling-focused roundtable meeting to be held at the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Strle has scheduled her public Talk Tuesdays meetings for the last Tuesday of every month from 6-8 p.m. The next three will be held at Joy, Ladd, and Anne Wien Elementary Schools.

Marylin Russell said she normally doesn’t attend the city’s structured, rigid City Council meetings but went to Tuesday’s discussion because she liked the idea of talking to city leaders in an informal atmosphere.

“The mayor actively reached out her hand: ‘Come and talk to me,’” Russell said.